Retrieval Failure
by Rosie5
Summary: James Potter and Lily Evans are young, in love and soon to be married. But the profession of Aurors is a dangerous business as James finds out to his cost, when he overhears something he shouldn't and wakes up to find his worst nightmare is a reality...
1. Complete Berk

                                                         **_Retrieval Failure_**

**__**

**_Summary:_**

_James Potter and Lily Evans are young, in love and soon to be married. Life is, for want of a better word, peachy. But the profession of Aurors is a dangerous treacherous business as James finds out to his disadvantage when he witnesses a Dark Matter he really shouldn't have. Instead of killing him, Voldemort deals his enemy an even crueller blow … by erasing his memory. James has no recollection of his life long friends, his beautiful fiancé or, most importantly, what it was he witnessed. It really is a complete retrieval failure … _

**_A/N_:** _Hi, I'm back! Another Lily and James fiction (my favorite.) This is based on the plot line of a recent film I saw, but it differs in many ways, (for a start, the characters.) But it's romantic, a little angsty and very dramatic, chock full of regular Marauder humor and those cliff hangers you love to hate... Please read and review! _

_Thanks, Rosie. _

            "But … but … you've barely been living together for –"

            "– A year? I'd say that constitutes as a fairly solid foundation, don't you, Padfoot?" Remus Lupin said with a smirk cutting off his best friend Sirius Black amidst his tirade of a foreboding argument.

            "No, I don't, and that's beside the point, Moony, completely beside the point. A year only highlights how foolish a proposal at this time would be! It would be like clockwork." He put on a high pitched voice, "_Oh! A year's up! I'd better do it quick!_" He then cleared his throat, off their amused looks. "Your clogs will pop, Prongs, and smack you right back in the face," Sirius finished, with an air of maddening superiority.

            James Potter frowned fondly at his best friend and shook his head. "Padfoot, your track record concerning the female species is hardly enlightening, so you'll understand if I don't take your dire warnings at face value."

            Sirius was not in the least abashed at James's slur on his relationship tactics and continued with determination.

            "Look, Prongs, I know women in general, all right? And if you're going to insist on doing things _your_ way –"

            "– The proper way!" James interjected.

            "Then the tempo of 'slow' must be addressed," Sirius finished.

            James shut his book with a snap and lit the dim room with a wave of his wand. "I'll return to your point about 'women in general'. Although a good point, does _not _apply to Lily. She's different."

Sirius began stirring his coffee with his wand and watched the brown milky contents swirling in the candle light. Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, stopped chewing his quill for a second to join in the conversation.

"When you say 'different', do you mean, like, retarded different?"

"Shut up, Wormtail," they said in unison, a phrase that was heard so often that Peter barely wasted time sulking following it.

James sighed. "I don't know, I just want to be with her, forever, you know? I want our souls to be together, my heart with hers."

Lupin smiled. "That's nice, James."

Sirius frowned. "Or taken literally, incredibly gross."

"I was just thinking that too," James said as an afterthought.

They were sitting in James's living room in a house that he and Lily had decided to buy together, combining their salaries. The house was small and cottage-like, situated in Godric's Hollow not far from the Ministry of Magic, where they both worked. Lily was on a night-shift in her office in the Charm's Regulation Domain, which often required unpleasant hours. On these nights, the other three Marauders often came around to steal food from the fridge and talk about things the way they used to in school.

"If I didn't know better, Padfoot, I'd say you were jealous," said Lupin with a wry expression on his face."

"Jealous? Me? I don't think so! I mean, I know Lily's gorgeous and everything but –"

"I didn't mean of James, I meant of Lily."

There was a moment whilst this sunk in, and Sirius smirked again.

"Ah, yes, 'tis true, James, I have kept it a secret for as long as I could, but I am madly in _lust_ for you –"

James threw a cushion at his best friend. It bounced off his laughing head and fell with a soft _plop _in Wormtail's lap.

"Seriously, Sirius," Lupin continued. "James has been your best friend since sliced bread. You're bound to feel a tad jealous of him getting married."

"Not in a gay way," Sirius said heatedly.

"No, not in a gay way," Lupin reassured.

Sirius blinked. "Well, I suppose so, yeah, if you look at it like that."

"Nothing will change," said James. "Just instead of living together, we'll be married. It won't be that different. I'll still be your best friend."

"Promise?" Sirius said in a childish tone.

"Yes, idiot, I promise."

Sirius sat back in the arm chair by the fire, looking happier. He threw his wand up in the air and caught it again. "So, when are you thinking of doing this?"

"Tomorrow. That's the plan anyway," James said. "In a café in Hogsmead. It's the place we had our first date together."

There was another period of silence whilst they all munched their chocolate, James eating his purely for comfort, and then Wormtail spoke after an apparent period of pondering.

"Ah, but you will have vows though," said Peter. "Vows you will have to uphold, James. Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course I can!" said James defensively. "And anyway, you're all ahead of yourselves. This is all providing she says yes."

Sirius smiled, reassuringly. "She will, mate. She will."

Lily Evans was sitting at a table by the window in _Jenny's Café._ The table was covered by a soft pink table cloth and, in front of her, Lily had a cup of tea and was stirring it feverishly. The café looked no different to when Lily and James had first started going out; the waitress-witch was the same as was the décor. Lily tucked her red hair behind her ears distractedly and clasped her hands together, staring at the door. She was tired and irritable from being on a night-shift at the Ministry and furthermore, James had sounded odd earlier that morning when he had asked to meet.

Lily was so exhausted, so paranoid, that she half believed James was going to tell her that he wanted to end it. Lily knew that this was a foolish notion, and she was just plain tired, but there was a slight urgency in the way she was stirring her tea that would convince someone otherwise.

The bell above the door tingled as James entered the shop. He looked worried and was fidgeting with his bag. Lily's fears intensified. He went over to her and smiled nervously, kissing her on the cheek.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "Fudge kept us all back to debrief about that recon last week."

"That's okay," said Lily, still stirring her tea. "So what's this about?"

"Well … there's something that I … Lily, I … I can't do this –"

"– James, look …" Lily cut him off. Her nervousness manifested as he began to form the words she had been dreading. "I hope you're not going to say what I think you're going to say, because, well … please don't."

James blinked. How could she know? Had Sirius broken and told her? "Don't? But, Lils, why not? I mean, I think it's the right time, and, for me, well. Living together just isn't …"

"James, I love you!"

            "… isn't enough." James frowned. That was an odd statement amidst her polite decline. "But … thanks anyway, I love you too."

            "Then why are you breaking up with me?" she said in an anguished tone.

            James frowned and suddenly comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh … no! No, no, you daffy red head. I was going to ask you to marry me!"

            Lily froze. If there was one question on earth she had wanted him to ask yet one that was equally unexpected, it was that one. Relief flooded through her and at the same time, an amazing clarity. This was who she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

            "But now I've gone and messed it all up and I knew that it was a stupid idea in the first place –"

            "Yes."

            "– and Sirius warned me it was a stupid idea and I never listened to him, and that was partly because Moony said it was a good idea and he's really sensible and partly because I'm so in love with you that I can't think straight so of course I was going to go all mental about it and mess it up –"

            "_James …_"

            "– so now I've gone and wrecked everything we have because I was so hasty, like a stupid hasty berk, because that's exactly what I am, I'm a prat and everyone knows – did you just say yes?"

            "_Yes, _you berk."

Lily and James had wanted to spend a little time alone afterwards before they told anybody, mostly because although a happy moment, was also a private moment. It was also so James could constantly ask Lily if she was having him on and worked for Voldemort who had specifically told her in order to kill him she must break his heart. Their friend's reactions upon being told were vastly predictable.

            "Well I told you! Didn't I tell you Prongs? How it was a good idea?" said Sirius, proudly, smacking James on the back.

            "No, you told him his clogs would pop and hit him right in the face I think, Padfoot," said Lupin, grinning. "Well done, James. That's great news."

            They celebrated well into the night with a bottle of Fire Whiskey and a lovely meal at Godric's Hollow, cooked by Lily. James remarked loudly that he excepted dinners like this every day of the week when they were married. He would have gone on to say what else he expected until Lily smacked him on the back of the head with a dishcloth.

            If somebody had told the laughing group that in 48 hours, James Potter would not recall having proposed, not recall his friends nor his fiancé, they would have not believed them, for the idea itself was too preposterous to even contemplate.

**A/N: **And that ends that! On a less than happy note, I'm afraid, as what I hint at here does in fact happen. (Although if you read the summary you'd know that. Duh.) Please read and review! Or I absolutely refuse to carry on. Actually, that's a lie.


	2. Spiralled

**_Retrieval Failure_**

**__**

**_Chapter 2: _**_Staircase_

**_Summary:_**

_James Potter and Lily Evans are young, in love and soon to be married. Life is, for want of a better word, peachy. But the profession of Aurors is a dangerous treacherous business as James finds out to his disadvantage when he witnesses a Dark Matter he really shouldn't have. Instead of killing him, Voldemort deals his enemy an even crueller blow … by erasing his memory. James has no recollection of his life long friends, his beautiful fiancé or, most importantly, what it was he witnessed. It really is a complete retrieval failure … _

**_A/N_:** _Hello faithful reviewers and other readers who are too lazy to review. I'm sorry there has been a slight delay in the updates but that is mainly because I've been on holiday in the States for 3 weeks! But now I'm back in shitty rainy England so here is another update. Please read and review because I have just failed my driving test and I need cheering up. __L_

_Thanks, Rosie. _

James stared up at the ceiling on the flat of his back in bed. Lily lay beside him, sleeping soundlessly, her red hair fluttering above her nose as she breathed. James was too exited to sleep; he was getting married! There was so much to think about; when they should have it, as soon as possible he would have thought, and who to invite; Sirius would be the best man obviously, where to have it and what food to order … James' head grew fuzzy as the enormity of the event built up in his mind. It was all worth it though, he decided. He loved her, and that was that. Simple.

Just as James' eyes began to close, he heard a small popping noise from downstairs. Instantly he sat up, alarmed, but then relaxed as his brain worked through what it was; clearly someone's head Apparating in the fireplace in the living room. James swung his legs out of bed, the colder air making him shiver slightly. Lily rolled over.

"Wassamatta?" she said groggily.

"Nothing, just a message," James replied.

"Good." Her voice became fainter as she drifted back to sleep and, obviously back to a previous dream, as James distinctively heard her mutter, "I have tadpoles to catch."

Downstairs was dark and lit only by the dying embers of the fire, which were just beginning to disappear. A red glow lingered for only a few seconds more as James crossed to the second fireplace under the windowsill, where he saw the last face he had wanted to see sitting in the hearth. Snape.

"Oh, bloody hell. What do you want?" James yawned.

"I don't want to be here, Potter, I did not beg for this errand," Snape spat icily. "I'm on a night shift which requires the employee to actually be _awake_," he added scathingly as James yawned again.

"What do you want?" James repeated folding his arms and staring at Snape with a mixture of dislike and mistrust.

"Dumbledore has asked me to deliver an urgent message."

James paused, waiting. When Snape didn't answer, he huffed, "Well go on then," his tone one of boredom. "Unless you want to continue staring around my living room."

Snape scowled. "Tempting, but still. You are to go to the East Ridge immediately. It seems that He Who Must Not Be Named and a few gatherers are discussing their next moves upon the ridge and there have been instances of disappearances. You are to leave at once and gather the appropriate information. You must _not _be seen."

"Wonderful. All I wanted was a glass of milk."

"I did appeal to Dumbledore not to send you, and then suggested you were accompanied by a more senior Auror, as you are fairly _junior,_ aren't you?"

James didn't answer. Although he was a junior Auror, Dumbledore seemed to think that he could cope with fairly large things otherwise he wouldn't have called for him. Snape seemed to realise this as James spoke finally.

"So why are you here delivering me the message? Why is Dumbledore not sending you, eh, Snivelus?"

"Dumbledore needs me elsewhere!" said Snape, his voice raising. James smirked, happy that he was able to aggravate his old enemy so easily.

"I'm sure he does. Now sod off while I get dressed." James turned around and went into the kitchen, but was just able to hear Snape's last word.

"I needn't tell you, Potter, if you mess this up, you'll probably be demoted to a caretaker in the Headquarters." And with a nasty smirk, there was a faint _pop,_ and Snape was gone. James grumbled and grabbed his trousers.

"What do you mean, you have to go now?" said Lily, now fully awake with the light on. "Why can't they send someone on a night shift? You haven't passed your Stealth Plus Training Programme yet!"

"I've done the basic training! I can handle it." James pulled on a grey t-shirt and scrambled across the floor, looking for his robes under the bed.

"James, I'm really not okay with this. Why would Dumbledore get Snape up, of all people, to come and send you somewhere like this in the middle of the night? It doesn't make sense!"

"Maybe they're really busy at the moment or something. I am qualified to go on these missions, you know. Did it cross your mind that maybe I'm being sent because I'm a good Auror?"

"Of course it did, and of course you are," she said, taking his hands and forcing him to sit down. "But there just seems something odd about all this. It could be dangerous."

James leaned over quickly and kissed his fiancé. "That's the job. I've got to go. Go back and catch your tadpoles. I'll be back before sunrise."

Lily glared at his retreating back, and shouted out as he went down the stairs, "You'd better be, Potter, else there'll be trouble!"

James felt a sharp pain in his chest as he inhaled the fresh morning air, cold against his lungs. Dawn was just beginning to break, and James began to jog as, to play safe, he had Apparated a mile from the East Ridge. A pinkish glow in the sky told James that the sun would be coming up just as he reached his destination. He quickened his pace as the thought that he might be too late to hear anything useful crossed his mind and his grip on his wand tightened in his pocket.

The ridge came into view sooner than James had expected. A ruin of an old house stood precariously balanced on the edge of the ridge; ironically, the West Ridge which was a good few miles away from Godric's Hollow was full of large and well furnished houses. The other side had apparently been forgotten. Previous Aurors had caught many a meeting here for Voldemort and the Death Eaters; common knowledge would be that had they once been discovered, it would not be used again. But Dumbledore knew the arrogance of the Dark Side and was obviously forewarned of a meeting.

The ruin drew nearer and as he could see no signs of life outside, James deduced that the enemy must, once again, be inside. He edged forwards, keeping low and near the wall which ran as a perimeter of the ridge, wand now out. He reached the wooden door off its hinges within seconds. James edged carefully around it so as not to make it creak. He soon found himself in a dark and dreary hallway where large chunks of broken glass littered the floor. The walls were burnt, possibly at least fifty years ago, and the place smelt damp, smoky and old.

James edged forwards and found a staircase past one of the stone walls. The steps looked precarious; wooden and blackened, they were bound to give way at any moment. However there were footsteps made quite recently on the wood, indicating someone was up there. No sooner had he thought this, James heard voices. Instinctively, he shrank back to the shadow of the wall. The voice soon identified itself as that of Rookwood; one of Voldemort's prime Death Eaters. James gripped his wand even tighter, the thought that he was not there to fight, only to listen pounding in his head. He _must _not be seen.

" … good idea, Rookwood," came a high cold voice, one James recognised with a jolt of sickness. Voldemort was here. It was unusual indeed, for him to attend these secret meetings; James must have hit gold.

"Thank you, my Lord," came the scathing reply.

The next part of the conversation was badly muffled, as there was the sound of moving chairs. James only caught the end of it. " … Albus Dumbledore out of the way. The old fool must not intercept this knowledge. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my Lord."

James strained his ears. He dared not move any closer; his foot was already on the first step in anticipation.

"Once the Longbottoms are out of the way, our path will be clear to the rest of the Order."

James swallowed hard. He took out his wand and muttered a Remembrance Spell. His wand flared blue and would now take in all the information heard.

Much more was lost due to various other sounds, but James caught the main bulk of the topic. "The school will have to be stormed before long. We cannot waste time skirting Dumbledore. Once the path to him is clear, we shall be at the height of our takeover."

"Are we decided on who the main problem is, my Lord?" came the voice of Malfoy.

"Besides Dumbledore, you mean? Oh, undoubtedly. The Potter boy and his girlfriend must go."

James couldn't help what happen next. At the mention of danger to Lily, he stepped on the next stair. The second it happened, he knew it was a terrible mistake. Wood splintered and a horrible creaking snap rent the whole building. The entire staircase collapsed, and James with it.

**A/N: **Oh look at that. Another cliffhanger. I love them. Please read and review!!!


	3. Something Stolen

_**Retrieval Failure**_

**_Chapter 3: Stolen_**

_**Summary:**_

_James Potter and Lily Evans are young, in love and soon to be married. Life is, for want of a better word, peachy. But the profession of Aurors is a dangerous treacherous business as James finds out to his disadvantage when he witnesses a Dark Matter he really shouldn't have. Instead of killing him, Voldemort deals his enemy an even crueller blow … by erasing his memory. James has no recollection of his life long friends, his beautiful fiancé or, most importantly, what it was he witnessed. It really is a complete retrieval failure … _

**A/N: **Hi guys, sorry about the lateness of this update, but I've got a new laptop! So hopefully updates will be more frequent now, as this one (fingers crossed) will not die. So hope you like this chappie. Rosie x

James felt the floor disappear beneath him, as though a solidly concrete rug had been abruptly pulled from under his unsuspecting feet. He heard wood splinter and shut his eyes tightly to protect them, throwing his arms over his head as he hit the floor about ten feet below. He landed on his side, a sharp pain shooting up from his ribs and debris showering him from above. Stunned for a few seconds and unable to move, James exhaled sharply, unaware of how much damage had been done. His brain desperately tried to shift into its gears as he suddenly realised; unless all of the Death Eaters above him had gone completely deaf in the last five seconds, the whole under-cover thing was over.

"Ouch …" he muttered to himself as he tried to push himself up. Once on his elbows, the rest was easy. A few deep cuts and scratches, a badly bruised side and a couple of broken ribs – he had got off lightly considering. Looking up, he saw the remainder of the staircase had collapsed, but not entirely disbanded. There were still some footholds he might be able to stand on in order to climb out of the pit as quickly as possible. Scrambling towards the left over stairs, he tested the first with his foot; it seemed stable enough if he pushed them against the grimy wall of which he could only imagine was the cellar below the ancient house.

Before long, his fingers gripped the edges of the hole he'd created. With the last ounce of strength he had left, James heaved himself out … only to find he was looking up at four deadly Death Eaters. Breath caught in his throat, James blinked.

"Uh huh," was all that came out of his mouth.

There was a trace of a smile playing around their lips, as though the outcome was a forgone conclusion of which they could only enjoy. James didn't think he'd ever been in a worse situation. _Don't panic._

Lucius Malfoy, who James recognised immediately from photographs and a brief meeting prior to his becoming an Auror, stepped forwards.

"It's Potter, isn't it?" he muttered.

James eyed up the situation; there were four of them, all those he had seen before in the Auror Headquarters as headshots on the "dangerous" list. Great. He gripped his wand in his fingers tightly.

"We've met before, I believe," Malfoy went on. "Before you went off to become a hero."

"I don't think I even liked you then, you know," James retorted. Sarcasm was the only way to go.

"I would have thought that someone, even with a degree of intelligence as low as yours, would have realised that this is no situation for jokes." He turned his head into the shadows, apparently looking at someone that James could not see. "Wouldn't you agree, my Lord?"

Suddenly, as though he were made of nothing but ice, Voldemort materialised out of the shadows, a magnificent auror of power radiating around him. James felt a sharp pain in his head as the reality of the situation sank in. His palms were sweaty and he felt sick. He hadn't met Voldemort, the most powerful wizard that had ever lived, before. He had hoped that their meeting would be in his favour when it occurred. Numerous scenarios of escape ran through his mind, each of them more unlikely than the first.

"It's ironic, Mr Potter," Voldemort hissed. "We were just talking about you."

"Uncanny," James said in a higher pitched voice than he would have believed his vocal chords possible.

"Now, what I'm wondering, is how long exactly you were standing in your most unfortunate hiding place before you, er, lost your footing."

The Death Eaters sniggered.

"Does it matter?" said James. "I mean, as though you're going to kill me less."

"No, not really I suppose," Voldemort said, nostrils flaring. "Curiosity, you must forgive me, James. It is James, isn't it?"

"My friends call me James. Mass murdering evil psycho-pots call me Mr Potter," said James, thinking of as many spells as he could.

"Still a little spunk left? How plucky –"

But James struck in that second, the split second he had been waiting for, when all his enemies appeared less than tense, less than prepared for the worst. He yelled the most powerful stunning spell he could think of and with an upward flick of his wand which Dumbledore had taught him, tried to magnify its effect by three, in order to hit all five of them. A huge purple haze fogged everything, right before his wand erupted with the force of ten fireworks, each bright gold beam of light hitting and ricocheting the four Death Eaters and Voldemort. The four staggered backwards and hit the stone walls forcefully. Voldemort appeared the least affected, only momentarily losing his balance, but James had expected this. He quickly fired a gold eruption of stunning spells in Voldemort's direction, all of which were deflected, and James was forced to dive behind a toppled pillar within the hall.

Two Death Eaters were on their feet, wands out, advancing. "Stupefy!" they hollered at the pillar, which broke into a thousand fragmented pieces. James had moved just in time to avoid completely being blown to bits, but couldn't shield himself from the broken pieces. One bit hit him on the side of his head, and for one second, white pain erupted in front of his eyes. Unaware he was falling, more pain from where he hit the hard ground exploded in his side. Feeling nauseous, he willed himself not to pass out completely. _You really want to die, James? Get the hell up! _

He staggered to his feet, just as Voldemort uttered his spell. _Oh bugger._

"Imperio!"

James blinked. He tried desperately to move his feet, but the spell held him fast.

"No, you really don't want to move, Mr Potter. You'd quite like to stand exactly where you are, in fact. And tell me what you heard."

James felt words spilling out of his mouth, without willing them in the slightest. With all his might he willed himself to stop. The Death Eaters were sniggering harshly; he was making his situation worse, _stop, stop, stop it now!_ And suddenly, he did.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not saying any more."

"Oh dear, that is unfortunate. And I was going to ask you all about Dumbledore's plans. Such a pity if you won't say anything."

"I could make him say something, my Lord," Malfoy uttered from the shadows, clutching his injured arm.

"That won't be necessary, Lucius, thank you. I have a better idea."

Silence fell on the company, James desperately trying to stay upright as the pain in his head gave a particularly nasty throb and he almost retched.

"I think we ought to alter Mr Potter's memory. Permanently."

All of the Death Eaters except Malfoy smiled cruelly. Malfoy stepped forwards, albeit tentatively. "May I suggest, my Lord that simply ending his life would suffice?"

"You may suggest it, Lucius, but I shall not listen, as you well know. No, I don't think we need kill Mr Potter. In erasing his memory, he will never tell anybody what he heard, which was indeed too much. Death would be too kind. In time, he may even be well turned into somebody else. Somebody willing to work for the Dark side, in fact."

"Never," James whispered.

"Never say never, James," said Voldemort softly. "I think that you may possibly be a very good asset. Once you've had time to … _adjust _… after the little hole I'm going to make, you might feel differently."

Malfoy stepped forward even further. "My Lord, we don't need him."

"Lucius, if you do not retire very quickly, I'm going to have to remind you why it is that I am your superior." Malfoy shrank back. "Now relax, Mr Potter. Just a small … spark …"

And in the split second that James heard the last word, everything went black. He wasn't aware of gravity at all, he could have been floating on air. Image after numerous image flashed before his eyes in the darkness, but none so clear that he could make them out. It was as though everything was falling out of his head in a ghostly echo. And then, all too quickly, it was gone and he was aware of the cold stone floor of which he now lay in darkness, for Voldemort and the Death Eaters had actually left three hours previously.

**A/N: **Really am sorry about that wait guys. What will happen when Lily finds him? Oh lord the tension. Please will you review? Pretty please? I've forgotton what they look like!


	4. Wrecked and Gone

_**Retrieval Failure**_

**_Chapter 4: _**

_**Summary:**_

_James Potter and Lily Evans are young, in love and soon to be married. Life is, for want of a better word, peachy. But the profession of Aurors is a dangerous treacherous business as James finds out to his disadvantage when he witnesses a Dark Matter he really shouldn't have. Instead of killing him, Voldemort deals his enemy an even crueller blow … by erasing his memory. James has no recollection of his life long friends, his beautiful fiancé or, most importantly, what it was he witnessed. It really is a complete retrieval failure … _

**A/N: **Hey everyone, thanks for all the reviews, trying to update as quick as I can – I know how you guys hate my cliff hangers when I don't resolve them  If you like this chappie please review as they buoy me up immensely. Imitates being levitated off the floor a good six inches at the masses of reviews.

Lily sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly at her toast. The butter had sunk straight through and was dripping on to the plate because she had let it for so long after the toaster. Her tea remained stone cold in front of her as she stirred it with her mind elsewhere.

James was late. More than late. In fact, he had never been this late before without a damn good explanation and it was making her angry. What business did he have proposing to her and then leaving her on her own for a long time? And yet at the same time, Lily experienced a sense of foreboding. She had the slightest niggle in her mind that was slyly telling her that something was wrong. James had actually never been this late before. And whilst thinking this, if something wasn't wrong at all, she thought that she was going to beat him over the head with the spatula on the sideboard.

Suddenly a sound from the living room made her jump. She leapt to her feet and hurried into through the door, stopping short just of the fireplace. Sirius's head was sitting in the emerald flames, looking extremely worried. She knelt down by the fire place.

"What's wrong?" she asked him immediately. "Is it about James?" she added anxiously.

Sirius blinked. "Lily, you need to get dressed and Apparate to the office, right away," he said in a low tone.

"Why? What on earth is the matter?" she said, her voice becoming louder.

"Lily, please, just come into the Ministry and Dumbledore will explain everything."

But Sirius was scaring her now. "Sirius, what is going on? Why won't you tell me?"

But he shook his dark head and was gone with a sudden _pop_. All thoughts of breakfast abandoned, she raced up the stairs, threw on some old crumpled clothes, and Apparated as fast as magic would allow her to.

Sirius drew himself up from the fire. "I told her," he said. "She'll be here in a few minutes."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'm going to wait until she's here until I tell you all formally, but it should be known that we have a potential crisis on our hands here, and I ask everyone to remain as calm and as vigilant as they can."

Remus paced the length of the office whilst Wormtail sat motionless in one of the empty chairs by the window, chewing his thumbs. Also present were Kingsley Shaklebolt and Gideon and Fabian Prewett; brothers who also in the Auror Squad.

Lily arrived quickly throwing the door open, her face red, her hair flying vibrantly and her clothes hanging off her in a most untidy fashion. "I'm here, I'm here, what's happened?" she said urgently.

Dumbledore straightened up and cleared his throat. "Now everyone is here, it is with deepest regret that I have to tell you that ten minutes ago we received a cryptic message from one of Voldemort's Death Eaters referring to an incident in the old house on the hill where James Potter was supposed to be carrying out undercover work last night. The message implied that James was found by Voldemort and his followers."

At the sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room, Lily put her hand over her mouth and Sirius swore.

"Now as it is a very dangerous situation, we cannot move into the house until we have a proper Auror team assembled; it is very possible that Death Eaters may still be there. However, it is also possible that James is there too. Therefore, I have decided that we are to move in. I shall have the Minister mobilize a team right away, and I will ask Lily and Sirius to accompany us. We must move as quickly as possible. Is that understood?"

Lily nodded, her face white. Sirius put a shaking hand on her shoulder.

Remus stood up. "What do you want me to do?" he asked shakily.

"I need someone I can trust to remain behind here at HQ in case any further messages are relayed by Voldemort or in case you receive any updates that we need to be aware of."

"All right," said Remus. He looked at Wormtail. "Peter, you can help me." And they disappeared into a side room.

Dumbledore moved off swiftly to organise what needed to be done, and Lily sat down before she fell. Sirius stood in front of her.

"He'll be all right, Lils. I know he will," he said, though his tone appeared much more convincing than he actually felt inside.

Lily looked up fretfully. "But what if he isn't? What if he isn't even there?" she whispered. "What if they got him!"

Sirius shook his head, and repeated, "He will be all right."

The morning air contained a bitter chill as Lily, Sirius and the rest of the Auror squad traipsed hurriedly up the hill to the old house. Lily's feet slipped in the morning dew as she scrambled to get there first.

As they reached the top of the hill, the leader of the squad, Fabian Prewett, threw out an arm. "Hold!" he whispered, and the Aurors formed a line to surround the house. Lily knew this procedure but was too anxious to follow it directly for fear of James not being all right. Sirius too looked as though he were on a different planet.

They neared the door, and Fabian stood up right and took out his wand.

"_Bindeus!" _he muttered, and out of the end of his wand shot a shimmering purple haze; a charm which served as a barrier in case any Death Eaters inside attempted to escape. To passers by it may have appeared a very impressive bit of magic, but to Aurors, it was standard protocol.

"V formation, move cautiously!" hissed another Auror, one whom Lily was not on first name terms with.

They moved forwards quickly and quietly and were soon at the entrance of the house.

"_Scour Combicus!_" muttered Sirius, and this time, a red beam shot from his wand and through the door. It swirled around the room and swiftly out again, then shot straight back up Sirius's wand.

Lily looked sideways at him.

"It means there's no Death Eaters in there," he clarified. "Dumbledore taught me last week."

"Come on, team, let's move in," said Fabian and one by one, they filed in.

Eyes adjusting to the darkness, they saw the dingy hall area; their eyes lingered over the collapsed staircase revealing a great chasm in the middle of the floor. They searched down within it, all the rooms upstairs and down, they even tried a Locator Spell. But some part of Lily knew, even as she checked the same room for the fifth time, that they wouldn't find him here. James was gone.

**A/N: **Please REVIEW! OMG THE 6TH BOOK! SO SAD! GET READING!


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